Supersoldier
Supersoldier is an adventure by Tangleworm. It follows the story of Simon Locke, a liberated supersoldier fighting against the army he used to serve. Plot The story starts off with a man who has been turned into a weapon in an attempt to end a war that has raged for centuries. He is about to be released into combat and is undergoing some last minute training before he does so. After destroying a couple of practice targets something strange happens, a syringe labelled CTRLDRG falls from his helmet. The main character is now Simon Locke. He finds himself in a small locked room filled with dead bodies. He works out how to repair the visor that he wears on his face and replaces the syringe of CTRLDRG. The scene shifts to that of the original scenario, except the man is now being tested at how effectively he can escape from a prison. He breaks the door down and plunges through the door as Simon Locke again, with no memory of what happened after injecting the drug. He finds himself on a battlefield where people are fighting machines. Simon is attacked by one of the people. He tries to communicate with the attacker, telling him that he has no memories of what's going on here. The attacker is suspicious of him, but comes to the conclusion that Simon is not like the rest of the supersoldiers. He introduces himself as Sergeant Ivan Mason and explains that they are in New Atlantis, a continet raised by the Seismic Wars. He goes on to say that this is the last frontier against the supersoldier commander, a man whose identity they do not even know. Simon shows the CTRLDRG to Sarge, who recognises it as a fuel called Drayton. Simon agrees to come back to their base in the hope it might give him some answers about himself. First they have to dispatch an attacking Supersoldier. Simon tries to do so in a manner that does not kill the Supersoldier but when the soldier's visor is chipped it automatically injects Killtox, killing the supersoldier instantly. The helicopter arrives and they climb aboard where Simon meets Zeke, Alice and Joshua. They arrive at the military base and Simon is taken down to a testing chamber to demonstrate his skills. He tries to use the skills but cannot and so injects himself with Drayton. The scenario changes to one where Simon is a samurai whose family was killed by bandits. He is training himself for revenge against the bandits. He attacks the straw targets but then a bandit bursts into his house. He restrains himself, unwilling to kill a man who has done him no harm and emerges from his home to find samurai like him in full combat with a group of bandits. He tries to communicate with the bandits or the samurai but nobody will talk to him. The situation is confusing him and he starts to attack the samurai. Eventually he emerges back to reality to find the base was attacked by robots. Zeke explains that Simon just sort of stood around looking between the rebels and the robots for a while before eventually attacking them. The group agrees that another attack is coming and they have to prepare. They take the opportunity to try to learn more about Simon. They watch the playback of him in the training room and then scan his limbs revealing his bones are metal plated and his muscles and blood cells are very strange. They are interrupted by Alice informing them that there is an army on the way, with a giant mech in tow. Simon heads out onto the battlefield, his task to protect Sarge's team while they prepare to take down the mech. While he's doing so he keeps an eye out for any Supersoldiers he can fight. He manages to take down two Supersoldiers, using a vial of Drayton in one of the fights, and catches up with Sarge's team. They can't get a good shot at the mech because of all the drones. Simon volunteers to climb the mech and take out the drone bays. He does so using some Drayton to help his progress up the mech. While under the influence of the Drayton some part of his normal subconscious remains and he attempts to fight it's influence. When he returns to reality he even remembers a couple of details this time. He cuts the controls between the mech and the pilot, sending the mech into a rampage, then he focuses on taking out the medical drones, learning more about how to use his energy powers as he does so. Eventually Zeke can get a good shot in and he cripples the mech, before destroying it entirely. Simon makes sure to grab a more advanced visor from one of the Supersoldiers he killed and heads back into the base with the rest of them. Sarge asks if Simon has any more questions he wants to know about. Simon asks about some of the advanced tech that is apparently stored in the base, which they were afraid of letting fall into enemy hands. Sarge responds that he can't really talk about that unless Simon signed up and officially joined their side. Sarge goes on to tell him about how the war started. The machines have basically taken over all of the world, barring New Atlantis. Sarge reasons there are probably small pockets of resistance elsewhere and that all hope is not yet lost. They go upstairs to the mess to get some food and talk about further tests on Simon. Alice suggests that since he is not enlisted he will have to be anesthetised before the operation. Simon decides to enlist and is reminded of his old army's form. He thinks back to those days. There is a flashback to his time fighting in the Seismic Wars. Simon and his team are being dropped from a dropship. The enemy has devastated the now evacuated city with controlled earthquakes, leaving only the well fortified centre of town stable. Simon, with his ally Sgt. Dexter, leads a ten-man team to destroy an AA gun emplacement to clear the way for further reinforcements. After fighting their way through the streets, encountering tanks and exo-suit soldiers along the way, the team approaches the industrial sector and prepares to move in. Characters * Simon Locke Simon Locke is a rogue Supersoldier. Due to a very specific attack to the side of his visor he was released from the influence of the Drayton. He was a sergeant in the Seismic Wars, he was honorably discharged from the military after a mission left his legs paralysed. * Sergeant Ivan Mason Sarge is the first person that Simon meets. Though initially skeptical of Simon he views him as a valuable tool against the machines, and possibly a last hope in what seemed an increasingly futile war. He frequently engages in close-range combat, having met Simon through punching him in the back of the head. * Corporal Zeke Magnusson Zeke is a Fire support, and uses heavy weapons. He is generally easy going and pretty accepting of Simon. * Corporal Alice Harvey Alice is a Sniper. She is somewhat suspicious of Simon, but still willing to see him as a real person. * Corporal Joshua Illinois Joshua is a Sapper, a combat engineer. He is very distrusting of Simon. Alice says that he's had an incident involving Supersoldiers in the past. Tropes * Convenient Amnesia Subverted as Simon remembers his life before being a Supersoldier but not any time spent as a Supersoldier. Category:Adventures Category:Tangleworm Adventures Category:MSPAFA Award Winners